John Conyers

But just 1 week later, all that promise is all but gone. Why the sudden turnaround? Apparently it is all President Obama's fault.

Less than 2 weeks ago, I was optimistic that we had turned a corner in the immigration debate...

I am here to participate with a question. Why do we not have a bill instead of a discussion draft with these distinguished witnesses who are here?

Well, that is okay. There are many Members of Congress who cannot either.

This legislation; this provisional draft is hardly a way for us to start an important hearing like this.

Unfortunately, we have a one-sided, unbalanced approach that has been alluded to by the Ranking Member from Georgia on this Subcommittee, Hank Johnson.

We have struggled with this. We passed the DREAM Act and the 111th Congress couldn't overcome the conservative filibuster in the Senate.

The Asylum Reform and Border Protection Act, unreasonably raises the credible fear standard.

The Protection of Children Act, contrary to its name does nothing to protect children.

It would make it a crime, potentially a felony, to be an undocumented immigrant in this country.

These bills are not the solution to the broken immigration system that American families and businesses have been waiting for.

Congress can recognize that Americans demand more privacy than that.

It may be necessary to reconsider the premise that an individual has no reasonable expectation of privacy in information voluntarily disclosed to third parties.

If the Government can only collect metadata with a particularized showing of suspicion and the Government cannot hold information in bulk, what is left of the telephone metadata program?

The operation of the bulk telephone record program bears almost no resemblance to the actual text of the statute.

There has been no instance in which the National Security Agency could say with confidence that the outcome of a case would have been different without the Section 215 metadata program.

The status quo is unacceptable.

The burden of proof for retaining a particular Government power should be on the executive to explain that the power actually and materially enhances security.

And it also makes it clear that it must be relevant, and relevant does not mean everything.

I am pleased now to yield the remainder of the time to the distinguished gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lofgren).

I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Chu), a member of the Judiciary Committee.

I am pleased now to yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Johnson), a distinguished Judiciary Committee member.

I am pleased now to yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Nadler).

I want to commend Jerry Nadler for initiating this discussion.

I favor strong copyright protection because it benefits creators and promotes innovation and economic growth.